State Fair of Texas Awards $1.3 Million to Texas Youth

Since its establishment in 1992, the State Fair of Texas® Youth Scholarship Program has continued to uphold the Fair’s nonprofit mission of supporting agriculture, education and community involvement. To celebrate 25 years of supporting Texas youth through college scholarships, the State Fair honored its Dallas-area scholarship recipients at the annual Youth Scholarship Luncheon today. Graduating high school seniors and their families gathered at the Music Hall in Fair Park for the event, hailing from five Dallas Independent School District (DISD) high schools in the Fair Park area. Awarding a total of more than $1.3 million in new scholarships in 2017, the Fair recognized 102 Pete Schenkel Scholarship recipients from DISD, in addition to 115 Youth Livestock Scholarship recipients from around the state who could not be in attendance.

Guests got the chance to hear from FOX4 News Anchor Clarice Tinsley, who has served as a longtime Fair supporter and presenter of the awards at the event for many years. Students loved listening to this year’s keynote speaker, Taylor Toynes, a Dallas native who founded local nonprofit For Oak Cliff and serves as a community impact associate at Commit!, another Dallas-based nonprofit that helps drive student achievement throughout Dallas county from cradle to career by leveraging data, community expertise and collaboration. In addition, those in attendance heard from a graduate of the Youth Scholarship Program, Christy Tovar, who recently graduated from TCU and is now a cardio-thoracic nurse at Baylor Hospital in Dallas.

Since 1992, the State Fair of Texas Youth Scholarship Program has awarded scholarships to more than 2,000 students for a total of more than $10 million. To honor its past Chairman Pete Schenkel, each year the State Fair awards multiple college scholarships to selected applicants from five DISD high schools surrounding the Fair Park area – Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School, James Madison, Lincoln, North Dallas and Woodrow Wilson High Schools. In addition, the State Fair awards scholarships to selected applicants who have participated in youth livestock competitions at the State Fair of Texas and are enrolling in an agricultural-related or agricultural-benefiting curriculum.

Scholastic performance is important, with preference given to students ranking in the top 25% of their class. Recipients receive a $6,000 grant, renewable in $1,500 annual increments if the student meets the criteria for renewal. Students must attend an accredited college or university within the state of Texas. Recipients must enroll in a minimum of 12 hours for the fall 2017 term. In order to qualify for scholarship renewal, recipients must enroll in, and pass, a minimum of 12 hours each semester. In addition, recipients must achieve a minimum 2.5 GPA their first semester and a 3.0 cumulative GPA for every semester thereafter.

The Fair congratulates these deserving students on their accomplishments and is happy to support them in reaching for and achieving their dreams. The State Fair of Texas is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and does not receive any government funding or support. Its nonprofit purpose is funded through the proceeds from the annual State Fair of Texas event. The net proceeds from the Fair are reinvested in Fair Park, in the form of capital improvements; given as scholarships to deserving youth throughout the state of Texas; used to support Fair Park museum facilities and community outreach programs; and used to improve the State Fair’s operation. Help support the Fair’s mission of celebrating all things Texan by promoting agriculture, education, and community involvement through quality entertainment in a family-friendly environment by attending this year’s exposition. The gates open for the 2017 State Fair of Texas starting September 29 through October 22, with the theme “Celebrating Texans.”

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About the State Fair of Texas

Since its inception in 1886, the State Fair of Texas has celebrated all things Texan by promoting agriculture, education, and community involvement through quality entertainment in a family-friendly environment. The State Fair of Texas is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with all proceeds helping to preserve and improve Fair Park, underwrite museum, community and scholarship programs for inner city youth and students pursuing agricultural careers, and help improve State Fair operations. The 2017 exposition runs September 29 through October 22 in Fair Park. Visit BigTex.com for more information.